THE DESTINATION:
Ponoka Alberta for Northridge 4×4 Canada new open house, followed by trail run to Baseline Mountain just out of Rocky Mountain House Alberta. Two day drip from September 13 2014 to September 14 2014.
click to enlarge the map
MAP/ROUTE:
Ponoka is pretty clear on the map, and I’m sure that if you’re a Northridge 4×4 Canada customer, you already know where it is! For the Baseline Mountain Trail run, we initially staged at a Tim Hortons Coffee Shop at RMH (Rocky Mountain House). From there, take 752 South and West around Cow Lake. Coordinates are approximately 52.154185, -115.450477. Stop here and air down if you wish, and make sure you’re ready to go. There is no turning back once you’re on the trail.
DAY 1:
This was a quick trip down the highway from Edmonton to Ponoka to display the VagabondExpedition Jeep Wrangler at the Northridge 4×4 Canada new location open house on Saturday.
The VagabondExpedition Jeep had received a lot of positive attention, but overlanding isn’t as popular as hard-core mudding/trail runs around here, so I didn’t manage to win any awards.
It was a great day with a lot of interesting Jeep’s (and owners), and I’ll be looking forward to this being an annual event (Northridge Fall Flex).
Part of the Fall Flex event are a few scheduled trail runs. One from out of Calgary, the other out of Rocky Mountain House (RMH). RMH is closer to home for me, so the plan is to meet up for Sunday morning in RMH with a group for the run.
I really enjoy RMH and the area here, so after the Fall Flex event finished up, I hit the road to get over to Rocky Mountain House to find a spot for the night.
Just out of town, you can get down to the river. When not flooded, it’s a great area to explore, and a beautiful spot to setup camp for the night.
DAY 2:
I should have taken photos, but a group of us doing the Baseline Mountain trail run all met up at Tim Hortons in RMH for a quick coffee before heading out. Review the map for the driving from RMH to the next staging area.
This is supposed to be a ‘stock friendly’ trail. Had I been describing it, I would have suggested otherwise, along with the fact you’ll end up with “Rocky Mountain pin-striping”- from the tight quarters and branches scraping down the sides of the Jeep!
The most difficult part of the trail is the initial way in. No photos on this unfortunately, but there is a very deep rutted entrance. The rest is fairly easy going, although one switch back had a few Jeeps needing to take a couple of attempts to get around it. The VagabondExpedition Jeep had no issues.
Coming to the top of Baseline Mountain, you’re greeted with snow and some incredible views.
A quick stop for lunch, and then time to head back down.
The trail wasn’t too muddy, but I’m not looking forward to seeing all the scratches when I was it off. Oh well, it’s a Jeep, it represents the ‘battle scars’ of where I’ve been and what I’ve done.
INTERESTING FINDS:
This entire area is beautiful, and I quite often think this is a more beautiful area than Alberta’s National Parks of Jasper and Banff. Take your camera and take a lot of photos.
SUMMARY:
I probably wouldn’t take Baseline Mountain trail run again, and don’t get me wrong, it was an enjoyable run. But it’s one of those things of “been there, done that”. I’ll go on another trail run with these fellow Jeepers, but would be interested in other trails in the area. Note to self – bring a saw to cut down low hanging branches. I needed a ‘spotter’ to hold them up to clear the tent.
PHOTO GALLERY:
114 photos over on Flickr here.
